Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more

Download & Play

Questions

Newspaper Page Text

4
WOMAN`S
CONGRESS 1895
The second annual session of the
Woman's Congress of the Pacific Coast
was called to order in Golden Gate Hall
yesterday morning at 10:30 o'clock by the
president, Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper of tnis
City. Before it had concluded its first
day's labors, the home, the new woman,
motherhood and child training, and that
universally interesting subject, marriage,
were handled vigorously— the latter, in
several instances, without gloves.
The beautifully decorated hall was filled
to overflowing for quite a time before the
hour announced for the opening. Every
seat in the auditorium was taken, the gal
leries were packed and jammed with fair
women and their escorts, and the aisles be
low were crowded with many ladies and
quite a number of men — brave men at that
to venture into such a maze of feminine
loveliness, wit and wisdom.
The ladies of the auxiliary had worked
hard to make the big bare stage look pic
turesque, and their efforts were crowned
with complete success. The walls sur
rounding the platform were covered by
tall, slender bamboo trees, which were in
terspersed with a few good prints and en
gravings. Handsome screens and shaded
lamps helped to give the stage a drawing
room effect, which was completed with
pretty chairs and lounges.
The president's table was a mass of fra
grant crimson roses, in the midst of which
was placed a marble statuette of the fa
mous Lucretia Mott. Susan ±5. Anthony's
seat had been made almost as gorgeous as
a regal throne. It was an antique, high
backed chair, which the ladies had dsaped
with old gold plush and wreathed with
yellow marguerites, tied with orange rib
bons — the suffrage color.
Flowers were everywhere on the plat
form. Suspended from the ceiling,
"Woman's Congress, 1895." could be read
in large floral letters, and the left side of
the platform was entirely banked up with
an immense floral tribute which an anony
mous friend had sent to the president.
. Ana Susan B. Anthony herself, the
grand old woman of woman's rights, the
evangel of the new woman, as new as she
beamed upon the welcoming faces before
her as the newest woman of them all.
White handkerchiefs waved and hands
clapped at her initial appearance, and her
utterances throughout the day were em
phatically punctuated by the warmest
demonstrations. The Rev. Dr. Anna H.
Shaw, the first lieutenant of Miss Anthony,
received her full 6hare of the plaudits of
the audience. Her utterances were mer
rily pointed shafts at many things, none
the lesE telling for their humor, and served
only to strengthen the impression the peo
ple had gained of the reverend spinster
through the prints of the country.
And the women of California. They, too,
did themselves and their State proud by
their efforts on the rostrum. The address
of Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper, the president,
was one of the most beautiful, direct and
logical ever delivered from any platform
in San Francisco, barring none. It evoked
the warmest applause from the visitors
and fairly took the congress by storm. It
was epigrammatic and instructive, sound
and witty, *he extemporaneous interpola
tions being particularly fetching.
Miss Kelso of Los Angeles took occasion
to come to gentle issues with 'if iss An
thony during the afternoon on the ques
tion of "marriage bondage," and did so in
a manner that most certainly has won her
the hearts of those newly married and who
expect to be newly married, at least.
Miss Millecent Shinn and Miss Anna
Stovall of this city also read papers which
covered them with honor.
The congress will convene again at 10
o'clock this morning, when a business
meeting will be held and officers elected
for the ensuing year.
VIEWED BY A WOMAN.
Miriam Mlchelson Clves Her Im-
pression of the Con
gress.
When I stepped into a Suiter-street car
Monday morning there was a woman
seated in the corner opposite me. Her
hair was a faded, grayish red, her face was
lined and rather colorless, and her promi
nent pale blue eyes were tearful and mel
ancholy. But she was really more mind
less than miserable, and her sorrowful
appearance, it seemed to me, was due
more to weakness than to woe. More
women entered the car on its way down
town, a mother with her two daughters, a
gray-haired woman and others. Their
faces were just the ordinary, preoccupied
faces of women who haven't much time or
wish for thought or action other than the
duties which are typically feminine.
At Larkin street a crowd of women came
in. They were on • their way to the
Women's Congress. You would have
known it by the important-looking little
documents they carried, by the fuss and
flutter of their conversation, by the de
mure, business-like style of their clothes,
but most of all by an awakened sexless
intelligence in their faces and the self-con
fidence in their brisk movements. The
women already in the car looked them
over from toe to bonnet; then their faces
subsided into indifference and self-absorp
tion—all but the woman in the corner.
She seemed fascinated by the new woman.
She stared at her, she knit her light brows
feebly, and positively forgot her troubles
in watching this new kind of female.
When the car stopped at the corner and
with a bustling dignity the new woman
alighted, suddenly the old woman rose too
in a dazed, uncertain way and followed
the crowd. She passed into the hall and
I lost sight of her.
Women, women ! All kinds and degrees
of women. They filled hall and balcony;
they stood against the walls, and, stand
ing, filled the aisles. They were enthu
siastic and hopeful and full of excitement.
"I do hope they'll begin on time. Women
never do, you know," said an excitable,
well-dressed young matron.
"Perhaps they're waiting for some man.
A man's name is first on the programme —
or rather program," chuckled a bright-
THE INAUGURATION OF THE WOMAN'S CONGRESS AT GOLDEN GATE HALL YESTERDAY MORNING.
{Sketched by a " Call" artist.]
faced woman with short dark hair streaked
with gray.
The other smiled appreciatively, then
she said, "Well, you know, punctuality
isn't one of woman's virtues."
"I don't know about that," said the
other stoutly. "I'm always on time and
so are you."
"Yes, but we both were business women.
Besides, you know, men make such fun of
us about that."
The short-haired woman sniffed rather
scornfully.
"This morning," she said, "coming over
on the boat there was just the homeliest
woman I ever saw. A regular fright. John
said, 'I bet she's going to the Woman's
Congress. 1 'I bet a nickel she isn't.' I said-
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, MAY 21, 1895.
So we watched her, and when she got off
at Kearny street I collected my bet. But
I got more than a nickel's worth of satis- i
faction out of it."
There was triumph in every woman's
eye when half-past ten arrived, and with
it the president and principal members of
the congress. So much for man's accepted
ideas of woman. But although there is a
tendency in some of the speakers to at
tribute all the ills that flesh and morals
are heir to to the political slavery of
women, I heard nothing at all of "tyrant
man." On the contrary, a gentle, forbear
ing patience was manifest in most of the
allusions to him. He is unhappily in the
wrong, but that is his misfortune, not his
fault, and with time and feminine reme
dies they hope to enlighten and ultimately
to convert him. I discovered, too, that al
though the new woman insists upon shar
ing man's political and business life, she
intends that he shall be compensated by
increased responsibility as husband and
father.
"Every mother owes it to her child that
he be well-born," read an essayist yester
day.
"And so does every father," she added
in one of those significant asides, which
characterize women's speeches.
But the most striking thing about this
woman's convention is the spirit of com
raderie it fosters. At Golden Gate Hall
women are actually so interested in things
that they put aside forms. Introductions
are unnecessary. If you can tell your
neighbor that that shy, sunburned, dark
haired girl is Beatrice Harraden ; that this
woman with the intellectual oval face is
Charlotte Perkins Stetson, that that one
who wears her hair in a gray mane down
her back is Laura de Force Gordon ; that
the bust is of Lucretia Mott; if you know
which is Susan B. Anthony and the Eev.
Anna Shaw; if you know who is the
woman in the swell gown and the one that
looks like a guy, the woman next to you
will not hesitate to make use of you. I
saw a young woman rise and offer her
chair in a very gentlemanly manner to an
older woman she did not know, saying
simply, "I should have liked to give you a
seat before, but the crowd is 8O great I
couldn't get out."
These congress women seem to have lost
some feminine vices and gained some mas
culine virtues. Their self-possession is not
the assertive arrogance of small-minded,
notoriety-seeking females. Their convic-
tion is tempered with dignity and charity.
Tney are not shrewish, and they deliver
their message in a frank, good-natured
way. They have learned how to disagree
without quarreling, and they are willing
to admit that there are two sides to a ques
tion and an infinite number of points of
view. I don't know that this makes them
more admirable to men, but it makes
them more women's women. The audi
ence yesterday certainly showed great en
thusiasm ; they indulged in that feminine
kind of applause known astheChautauqua
salute, and the speakers were quite old
womanly in their allusions to "Dear Aunt
Susan," "Saint Susan B. Anthony," "That
martyr, Lucretia Mott," and "Our dear
Elizabeth Cady Stanton." But there is an
accent of sincerity and evidence of un
usual friendship among women in the ac
counts of those old days "when our ideas
were not received with applause, nor our
selves overwhelmed with flowers," as Miss
Anthony gently expresses it.
The congress woman is evidently deeply
religious. "Orthodox of the orthodox,"
said Rey. Anna Shaw. Miss Shaw tells a
story well. She is the most manly, not
mannisn, woman in the congress. Her
voice is deep and full. She speaks clearly
and can be heard all over the hall. She
tells with a chuckle of Miss Anthony's
wish to impress an Eastern audience with
the propriety of their religious views, and
of the unfortunate figure of speech she
used- when she introduced Miss Shaw as
her "right bower." "But," gleefully adds
the Rev. Anna Shaw, "every man in that
orthodox community knew what a right
bower is."
"The religion," said Mrs. Cooper in her
opening address, "which is all for the next
world and none for this, is good for
neither."
"Amen to that!" came in hysterical,
quavering tones from the back part of the
hall.
Everybody turned around. It was the
Old Woman with the faded red hair, who
had sat in the corner of the car. Her pale
eyes were bright with excitement, there
were two red spots on her high cheek
bones, and her hat was a little awry. But
she was quite unconscious of people's at
tention. The chair upon which she sat
had been to her a penitent's bench, she
had suddenly come to a realization of new
womanhood, and when the next speaker
said in tones of conviction: "The new
woman has come to stay," another heart
felt "Amen!" from theback of the hall
attested the Old Woman's conversion.
Miriam Michelson.
THE MORNING SESSION.
Miss Susan B. Anthony and Rev.
Anna Shaw Receive
Ovations.
The opening session of tbe congress was
brought to order rather informally by the
appearance on the stage about 10:30 o'clock
of the president, Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper,
leading the way for Miss Susan B. Anthony
and the Rev. Dr. Anna H. Shaw. No
sooner did the vast audience catch sight of
these ladies than it broke out into the
wildest kind of applause, most of the ladies
rising to their feet and waving their hand
kerchiefs in salute. The pioneer in the
movement for female suffrage, spectacled
and white-haired as she was, was bright
eyed ana active, and as she took the deco
rated seat set apart for her she beamed on
the happy faces before her.
Mrs. Cooper wasted no time in the pre
liminaries, and as the afficers of the con
gress took their seats on the platform she
rapped for order.
"Friends and co-workers," sne said, "I
see before me a great many faces that
greeted us a year ago, and we welcome
you, thrice welcome you, this morning.
'The blessing of God maketh rich, and it
hath no sorrow. 1 And we are to have the
j invocation for his presence and his blessing
by the Rev. Dr. Brown."
The eloquent pastor of the First Congre
gational Church delivered a solemn prayer
for the right guidance of the convention,
the audience listening reverentially and
attentively till the final amen.
"His Excellency the Governor," said
Mrs. Cooper again, addressing the con
gress, "is, no doubt, attending the funeral
services of our venerated first Governor,
Peter H. Burnett. Hence, we shall be
disappointed in not having the welcome
of his Excellency. But we shall not be
disappointed in having the welcome of tne
Hon. Mayor Sutro. I introduce to you
Mayor Sutro."
There was more applause as the
monarch of the cliffs rose and bowed to
the storm ol greeting. He said :
Ladies: The pleasant duty and honor de-
TuJ? H2 on me to welcome you to the City of
the Golden Gate— an honor in this case doubly
appreciated, as I see assembled in this hall
women from different parts of the United
States who have spent their lives in devotion
to the betterment of the human family.
The aristocracy of European countries dates
back to the dark ages, when Kings and Queens
often made noblemen of free lances who had
shown the greatest prowess and skill in war
if • or the P ur P°se of utilizing their talent to
add strength and support to the throne.
Here in America we have allowed to be
reared an aristocracy of money — our railway
magnates, men who have accumulated enor
mous fortunes by chicanery and oppression,
and by evil means corrupted our Government,
which is now domineered over by great cor
porations.
We ought to strive and develop in this coun
try a different kind of aristocracy, that of
the brain, of worth, of Intelligence and of ad
vancement.
If we take that standard we shall find gath
ered in this hall a higher aristocracy than ever
assembled in any hall in the king-ridden coun
tries of Europe.
The participation of women (the mothers of
our coming generations ot men) in the selec
tion of those who are to govern the country
will elevate the Nation and give a higher
standard to political affairs.
AVomen are endowed by nature with a finer
quality of brain power ; they have a sort of in
tuitive knowledge of character and are gener
ally correct in their judgment.
I believe in evolution; I think It a part of
evolution that women, who thus far, in the
history of the world, have been denied a share
in the affairs of government, should be per
mitted to cast their ballots in favor of a puri
fied and improved administration which will
cause us to rise higher and higher in civillza-
Nothing could well be worse than our pres
ent status; political bosses, corruptly hand
ling the money-sacks of corporations, rule and
debase our great country.
Let noble women step in and restore the
honesty, simplicity and patriotism of the revo
lutionary fathers and all will be well.
I see in this hall one woman (Miss Anthony)
whom more than a quarter of a century ago I
have seen, year after year, struggling with
Senators and Representatives at Washington
to obtain the political rights of women, and
who has persistently since and continuously
fought the battle of freedom, and I wish espe
cially to do her honor and welcome her and
welcome you all, and hope that you will carry
to your homes kind and lasting recollections
of your assembly in this Cty by the Golden
Gate.
"I have the very great honor, now," said
Mrs. Cqoper, stepping to the front of the
platform and grasping the hand of Miss
Anthony, "of introducing to this large
assemblage one who I believe has done more
to lift up womanhood, to lift up humanity,
than any other living woman. This
I firmly believe. I have the pleasure of in
troducing Miss Susan B. Anthony, who
will respond to the Mayor's address of wel
come."
Loud handclappings almost drowned the
last words of the ' president, and as Miss
Anthony advanced the vast audience arose
as one person and wildly waved handker
chiefs in the Chautauqua salute to the
white-haired grand old woman of the rights
of woman.
"Mrs. President, Mr. Mayor and friends,"
said Miss Anthony, as soon as the wave
of enthusiasm had passed, "it is but a few
minutes over twenty-four hours since my
friend, Miss Shaw, and myself stepped foot
on California soil, and this is the third
vast congregation of your California peo
ple which we have met— the third vast
audience — and the welcome which your
Mayor has extended, the welcome which
these vast assemblages of the men and
women of your City and your Brooklyn
across the water— for while lam here I
can only think of New York and Brooklyn
to be compared with Ran Francisco and
Oakland— do not fail of appreciation from
me. Certainly any heart that could fail to
appreciate such an ovation— such a recog
nition—would be wanting in the common
est elements of human nature.
"lam grateful for this welcome, not
from any personal consideration. While
that is flattering enough, I can assure you
I take it for the cause for which you make
the recognition. lam no better looking;
I, personally, have no more brain, nor
more power of statement than I had forty
years ago — and, forty years ago, whenever
my friends, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and
the venerated and sainted Lucretia Mott,
whenever any of us went into a commun
ity, the whole community did not take off
their hats in reverent recognition of our
coming, but, on the other hand, it was
with hootings and with jeers and with
words that were not complimentary they
met us.
"It is because the world is coming, not
to admire the exterior of Lucretia Mott,
the exterior of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, or
any of the advocates of this great move
ment that this ovation comes. It is be
cause the idea which these women pro
mulgated almost half a century ago has
become acceptable to the people, and not
only acceptable, but it has become the
cornerstone of the faith in our republic, of
the faith in our Christianity and of the
faith in our country altogether. There
fore, whatever of courtesy, whatever of
congratulation you offer to my friend, Miss
Shaw and myself, who have come across
the mountains and the plains in order to
look you in your faces in the great con
gregation — whatever you tender to us,
seemingly personal, she and I and all
of the friends who are not able to be here
to-day-^-Mrs. Stanton, the one survivor of
the women who called the first conventiou
that was ever held of women in 1848, she,
sitting in her little room in her little home
in the city of New York, will feel to-day
this ovation, this congratulation, this ora
tion, quite as much as we who are here.
And everywhere where woman has awak
ened to her new destiny, to her new hope,
to her new realization, everywhere where
woman has thus awakened all over the
face of this globe, will go the Associated
Press dispatches of this tender of recogni
tion and respect and reverence for the
women who first promolgated this grand
idea of perfect equality of rights, civil,
religious, social, literary, educational, for
the women of the world."
Loud hand-clappings interrupted the
flow of eloquence from the lips of Miss
Antnony, and the waving handkerchiefs
in the crowded seats, the packed aisles and
the jammed galleries, looked like myriad
mammoth flakes of purest snow falling
from the canopy above.
"I am glad to be here," resumed Miss
Anthony, smiling at the smiling audience
before her. "You will remember, some of
you who are old enough to remember, that
this is not my first visit to your coast. It
will be twenty-four years ago, when the
11th day of June shall have come, since
Mrs. Stanton and myself first arrived in
your City.
"We are not without recognition then;
we were not without a most cordial recep
tion then, but it was not by the multitude
as it is now. It was the few. I remember
that when Mrs. Stanton appeared before
the vast audience, Mr. Stanford, the then
Governor of the State, made the formal ad
dress of welcome and presided at the meet
ing, and Mis. Stanford and himself ten
dered every possible compliment to us as
their guests at the Grand Hotel, which
was then new and magnificent.
"We have had grand California repre
sentatives in the East from the beginning.
As I began wending my way back by the
railroad on that trip, having just finished
speaking at Virginia City and gone down
to Reno to take the train, I found there
was not a single berth to be had. All were
taken. Your men had then elected as
Senator of the United States, the Hon. A.
A. Sargent. He and his family were then
on board that train, and, very kindly, the
two daughters of Senator Sargent shared
their stateroom with me, and I found"
resting place and ;; became thoroughly ac
quamted^with your Senator and Mrs. Sar
fhnir?^ f £° m u that d »y,to this 1 have had
fo h n°oTin ln s a h n S |SsS ether * "- I **
'-Then after Senator Sargent, you sent
friend* Who WaS OUr &d ™™** and
Khn nd then ' y< ? u sent Inland Stan
as thS £v a3> , all with his wife as well
bLt frt£} 6: of :; Senator •? Sargent, of our
best friends over on the other side of the
S Califn? 8 *- S0) while we have not
iwP» iforni W who live *in I New York
and Pennsylvania and Washington, we are
no strangers to the representatives of Cali-"
th«?-' * ud lam 'S l ad to stand here and say
rnnL^ a£S j knowledge of them ia
concerned they have been worthy of your
confidence. v . your
"Now, I will say again that I am glad to
be here, and I expect to get a good deal
more good out of this council of the women
of the Pacific Slope than it is possible for
you to get from nay being here with you."
Aerain the hall rang with applause and
the flower-scented air was agitated by the
waving of spotless handkerchiefs as the
honored pioneer who bad blazed the path
for the new woman, bowing to the right
and left, took her seat.
"There has been a call from the audi
ence," said Mrs. Cooper, advancing as the
applause subsided, "for one who captured
both Oakland and San Francisco yester
day. 1 have the honor of introducing the
Rev. Anna Shaw."
"I want to say to Mrs. Copper and to
this audience," exclaimed Miss Anthony,
rising before Miss Shaw had time to step
forward, "that Miss Anna Shaw is my
first lieutenant, and she is not only my
first lieutenant, but is the first lieutenant
of the great National Woman's Council of
the United States. She is vice-president
at large. She comes to you representing
that body, which is composed of twenty
of the different National organizations
of women of this country, representing
twenty different purposes of the women
who have been organized, and I hope be
fore this Pacific Council shall adjourn you
will vote yourselves members of that great
National organization of the women of
the United States."
More applause, and Mrs. Cooper again
introduced Miss Shaw, who came forward
smiling at the white greeting of waving
handkerchiefs.
'•My friends," she began, "ycu make me
feel bashful, because I come with Susan to
hold her bonnet, and it is honor enough
for any young woman to hold the bonnet
of Susan B. Anthony. But as you have
called me here, I am almost tempted to tell
a joke on her. Some time since, they toll
the women in this movement that the •
were out of their sphere. Finding that
this did not scare us, they said we were
strong-minded. Well, I would rather be
strong-minded than have no mind at all.
Then, when none of these things seemed
to have any effect on us, they called us a
lot of infidels, and that nearly scared us to
death. Here's where the joke comes in.
"One night in introducing me to a con
gregation in a large church Miss An
thony wanted to impress upon her
hearers that I at least was not an infidel.
'This is the Rev. Anna Shaw,' she said, 'an
orthodox minister. She is orthodox of
the orthodox, and she is my right bower.'
"Now just think of the "impression on
that congregation," resumed Miss Shaw,
when the laughter at her joke had ceased
echoing. "And the interesting thing
about it was that every orthodox person
in the congregation knew what a right
bower was.
"Gentlemen and ladies, I certainly thank
yon on behalf of the Women's Council,
which lam representing here ; and I thank
you on behalf of Miss Anthony, myself
and the other ladies who have gathered
from various parts of the country to bu
present at this congress. I thank you o:i
behalf of womanhood, because I think this
congress means better conditions for the
home and, if for the home, then for the
whole world. President Eliot of Harvard
says the home is the sap-root of the state,
and if that be bo, whatever tends to uplift
the state uplifts the home. There can be
no perfect state without a perfect home ;
and there can be no perfect state, if the
home is the sap-root of the state, without
direct connection between the sap-root and
the state.
"If you sever from the life of the state
one-half of the tap-root you sever one-hali
of the power and vital energies of the
state. That for which Miss Anthony and
Mrs. Stanton stand is the direct connec
tion between the tap-root and the state,
and we have come to see this great prin
ciple accepted all over our country by the
wisest and best people. We thank you for
your welcome to our ideas and to our
principles and, in the name of the
Women's Council, which I hope to speak
of hereafter, I thank you for this kindly
welcome."
"I now take pleasure," said the presi
dent, "in introducing to you Mrs. Caroline
M. Severance of Los Angeles, one of the
earliest of those women who stood for suf
frage, and, not only that, but the first
president of the New England : Women's
Club; 1 and if I were to tell all that Mrs.
Severance has done for the Pacific Coast I
should rob her of a good portion of her
time. It is my great pleasure and honor
to introduce to you, therefore, Mrs. Caro
line M. Severance of Los Angeles."
There was more waving of nandkerchiefs
as Severance took her stand to the
left of the president, at the rear of the
magnificent floral arch. Her voice trem
bled with emotion as she responded to the
reception and she was visibly affected. She
said she had neither strength nor voice
enough to tell bow grateful she was. Her
heart and her effort had always been with
the work at present in hand and her in
terest had never flagged since 1848. J
"Susan can tell, she concluded. "We
have been co-workers in a way." •
"Yes," said Miss Anthony, once more
rising, "let me tell you about Mrs. Sever
ance. Just forty-two years ago, in the
beautiful month of October, the third, or
fourth, or fifth meeting of the woman's
rights convention— we talked about the
woman's right to earn an honest living
and to get an education— just forty-two
years ago next October such a convention
was held in the city of Cleveland. I was a
guest of this dear woman at that time,
Lucy Stone, Antoinette Brown, dear
Lucretia Mott and Fannie Gage, as we
called her, Ernestine Rose of . New York a
Polish woman who said ■ such beautiful
things in broken English. I think we
were nearly all the guests of Mrs. Sever
ance. I remember that beautiful home of
hers out on Euclid avenue— a palace where
we used to love to assemble.
o "Ah, how different it was then, Mrs.
Severance," said Miss Anthony, turnine to
her old friend. "How different it was.
Instead of having a preacher to come and
pray for us, we actually had one take Mr
Garrison by the nose. Yes, Mrs. Sever
ance has been with us from : the , begin
ning." °
The Rev. Ada C. Bowles of Pomona
added her tribute to the work and worth
of Mrs. Severance, and called upon the
audience to give her the Chautauqua
salute, which was done with a will. The
president then introduced to the audience
the following ladies, who made short ad
dresses appropriate to the occasion: Mrs.
John F. Swift, president of the Century
Club of San Francisco; Mrs. I. Lowenbe'rg,
president of the Laurel Hall and Philo
math clubs; Miss Mary C. Smith of the
Ladies' Literary Society of Santa Maria;
Mrs. Nellie Blessing Eyster of the
Women's Press Association of the Pacific
Coast; Mrs. Eliza Orr, corresponding sec
retary of the Women's Council of Califor
nia, and Mrs. H. E. Brown of the State W.
C T. XJ .
Mrs. Ada Van Pelt then took the chair
and introduced to the audience the presi
dent, Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper, who was
greeted with much applause and the sight
of many fluttering handkerchiefs. She de
livered the following address:
Representative Women of the Nation and of the
Pacific Coast— Honored Friends: I thank Yon
for your cordial greeting. Ab president of the
\\ Oman's Congress Association of the Pacific
Coast it is my great privilege and pleasure to
bid you -welcome, thrice welcome to the feast
in reserve for you, during the days of the
connng week-a feast which has been largely
prepared by yourselves, and which you have
bo graciously brought along with yon i from Vhl
hast and he .North and the South, rich gUts to
this festa board. Again, dear friends, we bid
you welcome to the congress to the
h,:L, aad to > the State. You have come.
lh! P frnitTnn* gre , at PUrpOSe ' May you &nd
the V« fruition t? 1 your highest hopes,
and to you who have made the long iourW
across the continent bringing to us the gaT
nered wisdom of your noble lives and rich ex
periences we extend a special greeting, brimful
cV^ c V lo ing a 2 d - loyal regard. You are
the prophets of an advancing age. You have
come, scattering blessings all the wav, lik»
flowers and radiating light and intelligence
a.^esun sends Its beams to illumine and to'
great success. ': The keynote of that conges*
%&£?&'..£&?>">» ° f *• P^"
■:' It has been said : that from homes rhurrhp*
motion ?^ P v«'.^\C nnrche3 and modes of loco
motion are but the external expression of the